1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to snow removal. More specifically, this invention is directed to a combination snow throwing and plowing apparatus and particularly to a plow attachment for a snow blower. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved methods and apparatus of such character.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, in those geographical regions where climatic conditions so warrant, the use of motor driven equipment for assistance in snow removal has extended to the individual homeowner. Such snow removal equipment will usually take the form of a rotating spiral blade, driven by a small gasoline engine, which forces the snow into a chute with sufficient force to cause it to be thrown a significant distance in a direction determined by the aiming of the chute. Such equipment is commonly known as a snow blower. The most commonly used snow blower is of the type provided with a pair of drive wheels with the driving motor situated over the axle interconnecting these wheels. The blade is situated forward of the wheels and connected to the drive motor via a belt. In use, the operator stands to the rear of the apparatus and, via suitable controls, adjusts the speed of the rotor and the discharge direction of the chute while steering the blower with a pair of rearwardly extending handles.
Snow blowers are designed to facilitate the removal of comparatively deep and also dry snow. Thus, for light snowfalls it is usually quicker and easier to employ a shovel to clear the area of interest. This results in a comparatively expensive appliance being use, in many sections of the United States, subsequent to perhaps only one-half of the annual snowfalls. For snow of a wet consistency, there is a tendency for the snow to stick to the sides of and thus clog the discharge chute of a snow blower thus rendering the apparatus useless. Additonally, in view of the force with which the snow is expelled from the discharge end of the chute, use of a snow blower can result in damage to valuable shrubbery as well as glass such as automobile and building windows. Thus, it is quite common for the owner of a snow blower to nevertheless resort to partial shoveling of the area to be cleared due to the lack of a suitable direction in which the snow blower discharge chute may be aimed.
As an alternative to the use of a snow blower, it is of course possible to employ a fixed position blade to plow the area which is to be freed from its snow cover. For most homeowners, however, a plow embodies disadvantages which far outweigh those discussed above which are incident to the use of a snow blower. Thus, by way of example, use of a plow customarily leaves large piles of snow which have to be removed by shoveling. Also, with heavy wet snow, a plow of the size which would be economically practical for the homeowner would be unable to obtain sufficient traction to remove a significant amount of the snow.
There is equipment available to the homeowner, primarily in the form of attachments to small tractors, which would permit an individual to have available both a snow blower and a plow. However, in use it would be necessary to perform the time consuming and difficult task of removing one attachment from the tractor and attaching the other whenever conditions warranted a change in the mode of snow removal. Thus, there has not previously been an appliance, suitable for home or individual use, which combined the attributes of both a snowplow and a snow blower.